


A Feature Presentation

by MichellesPenScratchz



Series: Scattershots [34]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Fluff, Gift Giving, M/M, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:21:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28321569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MichellesPenScratchz/pseuds/MichellesPenScratchz
Summary: August isn't used to receiving gifts out of the goodness of people's hearts. Of course he's not used to getting them from someone like Vaughn, either.
Relationships: August/Vaughn (Borderlands)
Series: Scattershots [34]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951531
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	A Feature Presentation

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this [prompt](https://michellespensctratchz.tumblr.com/post/637629344554106880/december-prompts).

“I’ve got a surprise for you!” Vaughn proclaimed, smiling secretively as August parked his truck in front of the Sun Smashers compound and stepped out.

August set his lips in a fine line. His hand twitched instinctively towards the gun at his hip, but stopped short. A “surprise” in his experience was never a good thing. It could be a punch in the gut from an aggressively disappointed mother, or a girlfriend stabbing him in the back with a knife she’d been holding behind hers since the beginning.

But if Vaughn had been after something, he’d had plenty of chances to take it by now. And it wasn’t as though August had much worth taking. Hell, by Pandoran standards, Vaughn was better off than he was–the leader of his own bandit clan. What’s more, the Sun Smashers seemed to follow him not because he was the most threatening or the strongest (though those abs certainly couldn’t hurt) but because they genuinely liked him. Vaughn treated the Sun Smashers like family.

His hand relaxed. “That so?”

Vaughn clapped August’s shoulder, then his hand shifted to his back to lead him into the compound. “So, remember that time I taught you to play Beer Pong?”

August raised his eyebrow. “That was that game you and Robot Eye played in college, right?”

“Yeah, that. And after a few rounds, we got to talking about childhood memories. You told me about the one time you got to see a movie, how it was set up on a projector on the side of the Hollow Point cave, so it was all lumpy looking, but since it was a mecha movie, that actually made it better? Every time a giant robot passed in front of that one rock face, you’d jump.”

“Dammit, I thought you’d had enough to drink that night you wouldn’t remember all that,” August grumbled, trying not to look embarrassed.

“Yeah, well, I did. And it was weird to think about. Where I came from, movies were a thing you could go see in a theater on a flat screen every weekend,” Vaughn explained. “But here on Pandora, you’re lucky to ever see _one_.”

They arrived inside the compound. August could now see an old Hyperion propaganda billboard had been painted over in white, creating a completely smooth and flat surface save for a few bullet holes. And several feet away from it, a projector had been set up. Some of the Sun Smashers were seated on loot crates and barrels, glancing up at the blank billboard with anticipation.

“What’s this?” August asked.

“This, my good man, is your Mercenary Day gift,” Vaughn announced, arms spread dramatically. “The Sun Smashers, bless them, needed a little instruction on the finer points of filmmaking. But I think you’ll be very happy with the end result we’ve put together for you. Vic, if you’d be so kind.”

One of the Sun Smashers got up to start the projector as Vaughn and August took seats on the hood of a hollowed out car. An image flickered to life on the billboard. The “credits” were painted on the backs of old Wanted posters and held up one by one for the camera. “A Badass Robot Movie,” one said. “Screenplay by Vaughn,” read another. “Casting by Vaughn,” read another. “Music by Hollow Point Underground (but totally selected by Vaughn)” read another. And then finally “Directed by Vaughn.”

The film itself was little more than a couple of Sun Smashers in “robot” costumes, made of bits of pilfered and painted armor. The plot was little more than an excuse for them to punch each other against a backdrop of boxes with the names of buildings painted on them. (He’d have to ask Vaughn later just what the hell a “Municipal” was.)

Still, August was touched. Most Pandorans never saw a movie their whole lives, unless it was corporate propaganda. It was only because of Vallory’s contacts and her desire to shut him up for a few hours as a kid that he had seen one.

And now he’d seen two.

“Can’t believe you got a bunch of bandits to do this,” he marveled.

“They’re not just bandits–they’re family,” Vaughn said. “And you’re part of the family, too.”

He reached for August’s hand. August let him take it.


End file.
